With Barcelona seemingly set on moving yet another star player, Turkish Super League fans were dropped a bombshell when reports surfaced of Arda Turan's possible move to his old team Galatasaray's rivals Beşiktaş.Turan has a contract with Barcelona until 2020, but the former Atletico Madrid winger does look set to leave the Camp Nou if the club and player both receive an offer worthy of consideration. According to Turkish newspaper Milliyet, Beşiktaş have now entered the race for the 30-year-old's signature and want to bring him back to his homeland. The paper also claims that the Istanbul outfit is willing to pay 30 million euros to Barcelona for Turan and they would be happy to offer him a deal worth 5 million euros per season. Spanish media say it seems the doors are closed on an Arda Turan move to China, a return to Turkey seems much more likely.
Amid Arda Turan rumors, Beşiktaş was shocked by a surprise defeat on Saturday in an away match against Demir Grup Sivasspor. The Eagles missed a chance to close the gap after it was beaten by Sivasspor 2-1 at 4 Eylül Stadium. Sivasspor's Sergiy Rybalka scored the first goal of the match in the fifth minute, while Beşiktaş's Alvaro Negredo leveled in the 26th. Sivasspor got the winning goal in the 83rd minute, when Cyriac Bohi scored during a scramble in the box after a corner kick. Beşiktaş suffered their first defeat in eight matches. Sivasspor, the home team, increased their point total to 26 and finishes the first half of the season at the eighth spot. Meanwhile, the Black Eagles have 30 points. They are currently fourth, behind Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Medipol Başakşehir.
Elsewhere, the in-form Fenerbahçe drew against Atiker Konyaspor 1-1 Saturday evening at Konya Büyükşehir Belediye Stadium. The goals came in the second half. Konyaspor's Ömer Ali Şahiner scored the first goal in the 58th minute but Fenerbahçe's Mehmet Topal answered back in the 69th minute. The draw ended Fenerbahçe's five-game winning streak. The Istanbul club increased their point total to 33, while Konyaspor have 15 points. Before kick-off, Konyaspor fans pulled out colored cards in support of Palestine to create a 3D banner of Salahuddin al-Ayubi [commonly known in the West as Saladin], the first sultan of Egypt and Syria, also known as the Conqueror of Jerusalem. The banner read: "Jerusalem awaits new Saladins."
The match also had a special guest, 29-year-old Mohamed al-Tawil, a Palestinian with Down syndrome. Al-Tawil, who was detained for an hour by Israeli troops in Hebron on Dec. 10, was recently brought to Turkey last Sunday with his parents in coordination with the International Down Syndrome Federation (UDF), a Turkey-based non-governmental organization.